CBS Producing New ‘Star Trek’ Series for All Access

CBS will launch a new installment of the Star Trek television series on its digital subscription service CBS All Access in January 2017. The CBS network will air a special preview broadcast before the series airs exclusively on All Access.

The as yet untitled program will be the first original series developed specifically for U.S. audiences for CBS All Access, which already offers every episode of all previous Star Trek series. Users pay $5.99 a month for the service.

According to CBS, the new Star Trek will introduce new characters “seeking imaginative new worlds and new civilizations, while exploring the dramatic contemporary themes that have been a signature of the franchise since its inception in 1966.”

Alex Kurtzman, who co-wrote and produced the films Star Trek (2009) with Roberto Orci, and Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) with Orci and Damon Lindelof, will executive produce, along with Heather Kadin. The series will be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout.

Kurtzman is also an executive producer for CBS series Scorpion and Limitless, along with Kadin and Orci, and for Hawaii Five-0 with Orci.

“There is no better time to give Star Trek fans a new series than on the heels of the original show’s 50th anniversary celebration,” said David Stapf, president, CBS Television Studios. “Everyone here has great respect for this storied franchise, and we’re excited to launch its next television chapter in the creative mind and skilled hands of Alex Kurtzman, someone who knows this world and its audience intimately.”

The series will be distributed concurrently for television and multiple platforms around the world by CBS Studios International.

“This new series will premiere to the national CBS audience, then boldly go where no first-run Star Trek series has gone before–directly to its millions of fans through CBS All Access,” said Marc DeBevoise, executive VP/general manager, CBS Digital Media. “We’ve experienced terrific growth for CBS All Access, expanding the service across affiliates and devices in a very short time. We now have an incredible opportunity to accelerate this growth with the iconic Star Trek, and its devoted and passionate fan base, as our first original series.”

The series is not related to the feature film Star Trek Beyond, which is scheduled to be distributed by Paramount Pictures in summer 2016.